Johnson: I like Wall Street, too

Gov. David Paterson raised some eyebrows yesterday with his effusive praise of Wall Street, but the talk went over quite well with Long Island Sen. Craig Johnson, who is in North Hempstead along with the governor, Shelly Silver, Tom Suozzi and others to, amid great fanfare, witness Paterson’s signing of the new Tier V pension bill.

“Your words yesterday on Wall Street, standing up for the men and women who work in that industry, meant a lot to us,” said Johnson. He noted that his district includes Manhasset, home to numerous Wall Street commuters.

“I’ll stand there with you every day,” said Johnson, who also alluded to the loss that many Manhasset residents suffered on 9/11.

Suozzi, the just-voted-out-of-office Nassau County supervisor, is arguably the intellectual author of Tier V, and he’s long pushed for numerous reforms dating back to his “Fix Albany” days, when he made an abortive run at the governorship.

As to his loss in a recount to Republican Edward Mangano, Suozzi chalked it up to a “crystallization” of anger over high property taxes.

“People are angry about taxes,” Suozzi said. “We’ve known that for a long time, but this time it’s really become crystallized.”

Missing from the get-together was Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson, who along with his allies has been battling Paterson over the budget.

Paterson took a swipe at Sampson’s suggestion that the remaining $500 estimated budget gap could be partially closed by refinancing tobacco bonds. The problem, the governor noted, was that the rates paid on such bonds are higher than the prevailing rates — thus leading to a higher long-term cost to the state.